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DEIR EZZOR – Militant fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) attacked regime-held districts in Syria’s eastern province of Deir ez-Zor with dozens of mortar shells, causing a number of casualties among civilians, activists reported on Monday.

“At least six civilians were killed and a dozen more wounded in the ISIS-led attack,” media activist Shaheen Shdoud told ARA News in Deir ez-Zor.

The source added that ISIS has mainly targeted civilian’s houses in Monday’s bombardment.

“Civil defense teams are still looking for victims, as many others could be stranded under the rubble,” Shdoud reported.

This comes just a week after ISIS militants stormed regime-held neighborhoods of Ayash and Begayliya in Deir ez-Zor, and beheaded more than 150 people, including Syrian army soldiers and their families.

Speaking to ARA News, a civil rights activist said last week that ISIS militants first targeted Ayash and Begayliya with several car bomb attacks, before storming the two neighborhoods. “Dozens of women and children were brutally beheaded,” said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “ISIS is punishing families of pro-regime soldiers after the group lost the battle for Deir ez-Zor’s military airport.”

The province of Deir ez-Zor is deemed strategic for ISIS as it links the group’s de facto capital of Raqqa with Iraqi territory controlled by the radical group.